


you know where to find me

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Autistic Character, Found Family, Multi, Non-binary character, Polyamory, Trans Character, trigger warnings in the notes!! pls read them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2020-12-27 15:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21121295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: healing is hard.but it’s easier when you’re healing together.





	1. the way is long, but you can make it easy on me

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! this is a rlly big comfort au ive been making for a while,, theres a lot of Me Projecting Onto The Characters so please read the content warnings!! 
> 
> cws for: psych hospitals (vague! it's really only mentioned that a character was in one), delusions/hallucinations, past csa (nothing graphic! it's just vaguely implied/mentioned that it happened in the past), eating disorders (specifically anorexia and bulimia), past suicide attempts (it's only vaguely talked about), self harm (again, just vaguely talked about!! there's mentions of cuts/scars but no graphic scenes of self harm)
> 
> i think thats all the tws necessary!! if you catch anything i missed, please let me know!! please be careful while reading this! there's nothing particularly graphic, but!! still, please be cautious!! not all of these things will appear in this chapter but i'll put warnings for each chapter where specific things pop up!! this is just warnings for the overall series

“Bad day” was starting to feel like an understatement at this point. Every day seemed like it was just getting worse and worse without fail. Chiaki tried their best to look on the bright side of things, but it was starting to feel like there wasn’t any bright side left. 

Their day had started okay. They went to class as usual, and spent most of the period playing Pokemon on their DS. And then their algebra class came, and a fight broke out between two students, and everyone was yelling and laughing and Chiaki had no headphones to block out the noise with because their teacher had confiscated them the day before. They hid under their desk, covering their ears and rocking back and forth. And when the fight was resolved, everyone was laughing at Chiaki. 

They spent the rest of the day holding back tears and clinging onto their Kirby plushie, wanting nothing more but than to leave school and never come back. 

When the end of the day finally came and the bell finally rang, Chiaki was the first to rush out of the classroom. They weaved their way through the crowd of students in the hall, not even bothering to grab their things from their locker. They only wanted to leave. 

When Chiaki finally made it out of the school, they pulled their hood over their head, clutched their plushie a little tighter, and began heading to the park they usually hung out at after school.

-

Nagito clutched onto his hoodie as he made his way to the park. Today hadn’t been the best of days, but he supposed it could have been worse. He’d had to sprint out of his last class early when he started seeing moths all over his desk, and he still felt somewhat like there were bugs crawling all over him, but he’d dealt with worse before. It wasn’t so hard to shrug these things off anymore. 

Nagito usually resorted to going to the park on bad days. His parents weren’t around, which meant he came home to an empty apartment every day. And an empty, dark apartment wasn’t the most comforting of environments. 

Habitually, Nagito scratched at the scabs on his wrists as he walked. He walked down the small shortcut he had discovered a few weeks ago, and soon found himself at the park. 

-

“Yes, I know, I’ll have the assignment in by tomorrow.” Hajime sighed as his mom cut him off. “I know it was due yesterday. I tried getting it in then, but—”

Hajime was cut off once again by a lecture about laziness and using excuses. Frustrated, he hung up the call and continued walking. He knew he’d get in trouble for hanging up on his mother like that, but he was getting tired of her repeating the same things over and over again every single day. He’d given up on listening to her. 

He put his phone in his pocket and grabbed his jacket from out of his bag. He put it on quickly, the fall weather finally getting to him. He plugged in his earbuds and tuned into a podcast before turning around. Initially, he’d been planning on heading straight home, but now, he didn’t want to face his mother. Instead, he decided on heading to the park, where he could listen to his podcast in peace and not deal with his mother scolding him again.

-

Five dollars. That’s all Ibuki had made in the three hours she had been sitting at the park strumming at her guitar. Her hands were freezing cold and it was getting harder and harder to play the chords properly. 

She’d skipped school today on a whim, but at this point, going to school seemed like it would have been better than this. Her hands were frozen solid, her guitar was falling out of tune, she’d lost her pick in the grass of the park, and for what? Five measly dollars, that’s what. She could use that to buy a bag of chips and a bottle of soda at most. It was barely worth the effort of coming to the park to begin with. 

But Ibuki supposed it was better than listening to teachers ramble on about mathematics and history. And five dollars was better than nothing at all. She sighed and put her guitar in its case before grabbing her headphones and turning on her playlist. She had no real reason to go home yet, and the fall weather was somewhat refreshing.

-

By the time Mikan arrived at the park, there were already tears gathering in her eyes. It was her first day back at school after being discharged from the psych ward, and she had already failed a quiz, gotten yelled at by a teacher, gotten made fun of by a group of her classmates, and had more of her hair snipped off by the boy behind her in science class. She felt sick to her stomach with anxiety, and it was getting more and more difficult to hold back her tears. 

She collapsed onto the nearest bench, and hid her face in her book to avoid attracting attention. Tears began to fall from her eyes, and she sniffled. It felt like nothing ever went right for her anymore. First she was admitted to the hospital again, and now this. It felt like the entire world was against her. 

Mikan’s hands began to shake too much to keep a grip on the book anymore, and it slipped from her hands and into the dirt. She stared at the fallen book in distress for a moment before a loud sob escaped her mouth. 

“What’s wrong with me?” she practically screamed, tugging at her hair and burying her face in her knees. She let out more sobs, and began scratching at her wrists. It was a habit she had gained whenever she had panic attacks. 

“Hey, please don’t hurt yourself,” came a soft voice from above Mikan. She froze in place. “Is this your book?”

Mikan glanced up, wiping away her tears. She sniffled. “Y-Yes. It’s mine.”

“Here.” The stranger set it on the bench next to Mikan. “My name’s Chiaki. Are you okay?”

Mikan was about to respond when a group of other teenagers appeared behind Chiaki. They each shot her a concerned look.

“Is everything okay?” the girl with dyed hair asked. “I heard you yell and ran over here as quick as I could.”

“Same here,” the boy with brown hair said. 

“I-I’m okay.” Mikan sniffled again. “D-Don’t worry about m-me.”

“Are you sure?” Chiaki asked. They placed their hand on Mikan’s shoulder. “I don’t mind hearing you out if you need to talk.”

“We could go grab milkshakes and talk about it,” the girl with dyed hair offered with a smile. 

“O-Oh, no, I r-really don’t want to b-bother you,” Mikan insisted. 

“It’s not a bother! I wouldn’t have offered if it was.” The girl smiled. “I have five dollars on me. That can probably get us two large milkshakes to share.” 

“I found three dollars on the ground earlier,” the white haired boy added. Chiaki smiled.

“Well? What do you say?” they asked. Mikan smiled faintly.

“O-Okay.” 

-

“I’m Ibuki, by the way,” the girl with dyed hair said as they entered the fast food building. 

“O-Oh! I’m sorry. I f-forgot to introduce m-myself. I’m M-Mikan.” 

“Nice to meet you, Mikan. I’m Nagito,” the white haired boy chimed in with a kind smile.

“And I’m Hajime.” The brown haired boy waved at Mikan. 

“It’s n-nice to meet you all,” Mikan said shyly. “Th-Thank you for being so k-kind to me. I-I’m sorry for burdening y-you all like this…”

“It’s really no big deal,” Hajime replied. He smiled. “I didn’t really want to go home yet anyways.”

“Me neither,” Nagito said. He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t really have anyone to come home to, so it’s nice not being alone after school for once.”

“I’m gonna go get our shakes. Should I get one chocolate and one vanilla?” Ibuki asked.

“That sounds good,” Hajime responded, and everyone else nodded in agreement. Ibuki smiled, gave a quick peace sign, and headed up to the counter to order. As they waited, the rest of the group found a table near a window. 

“I-I’ve never gotten f-food with other people like this,” Mikan said as the group sat down. “No one’s ever r-really wanted to h-hang out with me.”

“To be honest, me neither.” Nagito laughed. “I don’t really blame them, though. I’m not the best to be around.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” Chiaki lightly punched Nagito’s shoulder. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but enough to get their point across. 

“I’ve got shakes! And fries, because there was some change,” Ibuki announced as she returned to the group. She set the drinks and fries down on the table before taking a seat next to Hajime. She was the first to grab a straw and take a big sip of the vanilla shake. Mikan hesitantly took a straw as well, taking a tentative sip of the chocolate shake. “So, how are you holding up, Mikan? You doing any better?”

“I-I’m feeling a lot better. Th-Thank you.” Mikan smiled shyly. “Um… I l-like your hair, by the way.”

“Really? Thanks! I dye it myself.” Ibuki grinned. “Maybe I could do yours too.”

“R-Really?” Mikan’s eyed widened. “Y-You wouldn’t m-mind doing that f-for me?”

“Of course not. I’ve got, like, so much random hair dye around my house that I need to use up.” Ibuki took another sip of the vanilla shake. “Plus, I think you’d look cute with a pink streak in your hair.”

Mikan’s face flushed red at Ibuki’s comment, and she sipped at the chocolate shake to hide it.

“Maybe I could cut it too, if you want. I could make it shoulder length, I think that would be pretty!”

“Y-You wouldn’t m-mind fixing it f-for me?” Mikan fidgeted with her hands shyly. “Th-The other kids in m-my class like to c-cut it…”

“I’ll make it too short for them to grab ahold of, then they can’t cut it! And it’ll be nice and even again.” Ibuki patted Mikan’s shoulder with a smile. “You’ll look punk as hell.”

“O-Okay.” Mikan smiled too. “I-I’d like that.”

“We should all meet here again tomorrow if you guys aren’t busy,” Chiaki suggested. 

“Hell yeah!” Ibuki exclaimed. 

“I-I’d like that,” Mikan said, her smile widening.

“Sounds good to me,” Nagito said.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Hajime added.

With that, the group finished their fries and shakes, and talked for a while more before exchanging numbers and heading home for the night. Besides Mikan, who went to Ibuki’s house for the night to get her hair cut and dyed.

Things felt a little bit brighter than they did earlier.


	2. strangely, (s)he feels at home in this place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! im finally back w chapter 2 of this!! i honestly dont rlly have much to say about this chapter?? its somewhat fillery to be honest gjskbgfskgh
> 
> theres no trigger warnings for this chapter, so dw about that!!

“You holding up okay?” Ibuki asked as she led Mikan into her house. Mikan nodded.

“Yes, th-thank you.”

“I’m glad.” Ibuki smiled as she closed the front door. She kicked off her boots and threw her coat over the top of the couch. “You can put your stuff anywhere you want. My parents won’t be back until next weekend, and they don’t really care anyway.”

“O-Oh, okay.” Mikan placed her shoes neatly next to Ibuki’s, and hung her coat and bag up on the coat rack. “U-Um... I’ve n-never really been to someone else’s h-house before.”

“Really?” Ibuki tilted her head curiously. “Well then, let’s make this the best sleepover ever to make up for that!”

Ibuki grinned at Mikan, and Mikan couldn’t help but smile back.

“You hungry? We can order takeout. My parents let me use their card when they’re out like this.” 

“O-Oh, um, sure!” 

“Is pizza okay?” Mikan nodded. “Cool. I get black olives, pineapple, and spinach on mine. Is that okay?” 

The mixture of toppings didn’t sound appetizing in the slightest to Mikan, but she was too scared of upsetting Ibuki to voice that. Instead, she smiled and nodded. Ibuki called the pizza place and placed the order, leaving her and Mikan to wait for the delivery to get there. 

“Wanna pick out what color you want in your hair while we wait?” Ibuki asked excitedly.

“Y-Yes, please!” Mikan nodded, almost equally as excited as Ibuki. Ibuki smiled before grabbing Mikan’s hand and leading her to her bathroom. She opened the cabinet beneath the sink, revealing a box full of brushes, combs, scissors, and, of course, containers of hair dye. 

“Feel free to look through it.” Ibuki pulled the box out and set it on the floor, before sitting down on the floor herself. Mikan sat next to her and began tentatively rummaging through the box. When she came across a tube of pastel pink dye, she paused.

“Oh, I like this one.” Ibuki leaned over and inspected it. “Y-You said I w-would look nice with pink in m-my hair…”

“Oh! I like that color. Ibuki thinks it’ll look great on you.” Ibuki grinned before pulling out a box of neon green dye. “I’m gonna put this in my bangs.”

“Woah, that’s r-really vibrant.” Mikan laughed softly. “It suits you.”

“Thanks!” Before Ibuki could say anything else, the doorbell rang. “Oh! There’s our dinner. Let me go get that.”

-

After Mikan and Ibuki finished eating their pizza, they put the leftovers in the fridge and headed to the bathroom to work on their hair.

“How short do you want me to cut it?”

“Um… Short enough to make it e-even again, please.” Ibuki ran her fingers through Mikan’s hair, examining the different lengths the bullies had cut it at. 

“Hm…” Ibuki held up a strand of hair. “I’ll have to cut it to here, then. That’ll go just above your shoulders. You okay with that?”

“Y-Yes, that’s okay.”

“Awesome!” Ibuki grinned. “Alright, just sit on the counter and I’ll get to work.”

Mikan did as told, and Ibuki grabbed her brush and began brushing out Mikan’s hair. Then, she grabbed her comb and scissors and began working on Mikan’s haircut. Long chunks of hair fell to the floor as Ibuki snipped the length away. She hummed the tune of a song that Mikan didn’t recognize, but somehow made her feel nostalgic. 

“Alright, all done!” Ibuki set her scissors down on the counter. Mikan stared at her reflection in the mirror, almost not recognizing herself. 

“Woah.” Mikan touched her hair, staring at it with wide eyes. It was only a haircut, and truly wasn’t a big deal, but it felt like a weight off of Mikan’s shoulders, both figuratively and literally. All those years of bullies pulling and cutting her hair felt like they had disappeared. 

“What do you think?”

“It looks nice!” Mikan smiled brightly. “Th-Thank you, Ibuki.” 

“No prob! I’m gonna give my hair a quick trim, and then we can get to coloring yours.”

“O-Okay!”

Ibuki and Mikan spent the rest of the night bleaching and dyeing their hair while watching some random true crime documentaries they found, and listening to some of Ibuki’s playlists. They snacked on some candy Ibuki had found in the pantry, and Mikan had never felt more happy and free. 

-

When Mikan woke up, she was in an unfamiliar room. For a moment, she panicked, until she remembered that she had stayed the night at Ibuki’s. When she glanced over to the other side of the bed, Ibuki was sitting there, messaging someone on her phone.

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Ibuki smiled at Mikan. “Chiaki wants everyone to meet up for milkshakes at noon. Sound good to you?”

“O-Oh! Um, yes, th-that sounds good!” Mikan sat up in bed. “Um, I-I should probably head home then… So I can p-put on fresh clothes and everything.”

“Don’t sweat it! My clothes can probably fit you.” Ibuki stood up and began rummaging through her drawers. After a moment, she tossed a t-shirt to Mikan that had the logo of a band she didn’t recognize on it and a pair of ripped up jeans. It was nothing like what Mikan normally would wear. 

“Th-Thank you,” Mikan said as she eyed the clothes nervously. 

“Don’t worry. You’ll look super cool in them,” Ibuki reassured, smiling. “I promise.” 

-

“Oh! Your hair is different,” was the first thing Nagito said when he saw Ibuki and Mikan. Mikan’s hair was now shoulder length with a few pink streaks in it, and Ibuki had cut hers to the same length and dyed her bangs a bright green. 

“Yeah!” Ibuki grinned. “Mikan felt nervous about her hair being so short, so I cut mine too so we could match. Plus, my pink and blue bangs were getting old, so I wanted to change things up.”

“It looks nice.” Nagito smiled. “Chiaki and Hajime aren’t here yet, but I don’t think they’d mind if we went ahead and grabbed a table.”

“Sounds good.” Ibuki led the way to the table the group had sat at yesterday. They talked for a while as they waited for the others to arrive, and just as Ibuki was about to finish telling the story about the time she accidentally set her guitar on fire, Chiaki arrived at the table and took a seat next to Nagito. They were clutching onto their Kirby plushie.

“Sorry I’m late.” Chiaki yawned. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. Oh, by the way, Hajime can’t make it. He called and said his mom grounded him for the day.”

“That’s too bad.” Ibuki frowned. “But it’s okay! We can just invite him another day.”

“Yeah.” Chiaki smiled. “I like your haircut, Mikan. It suits you.”

“Th-Thank you!” Mikan’s face flushed red. “Ibuki cut it last night.”

“She did a good job. I like the colors, too.”

“Ibuki thanks you!” Ibuki said, grinning. “I’ve been doing my own hair for a few years since I can’t really afford to pay for it to get cut.”

“Well, I guess doing it yourself for so long really paid off,” Nagito said. “I could never do it as well as you can.”

“It just takes practice! It’s like playing guitar, except it’s completely different.” Ibuki made an air guitar motion with her hands, earning a laugh from the others. Mikan smiled. She had only known these people for two days, but she had never felt more comfortable with a group of people before. It was nice, being able to trust people and laugh with them.


	3. it’s too cold for you here (so let me hold both your hands)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? posting two chapters consecutively? more likely than you think!! i’m posting this on mobile, so i’m sorry in advance if anything looks wonky!!
> 
> no trigger warnings for this chapter, so dw abt that! 
> 
> fun fact about this au: hajime has adhd and comic books r his hyperfixation!! (bonus points to anyone who knows what comic hajime is reading during this chapter)
> 
> next chapter is gonna be chiaki centric since last chapter was mikan and ibuki nd this chapter is hajime and nagito!! i promise i’m not leaving chiaki out i love them sm

Hajime stared up at his ceiling, letting out a frustrated sigh. Initially, his mom had said she was only grounding him for a day, but when he tried to leave the house the next morning, she stopped him in his tracks. He had too much unfinished schoolwork, and she was still upset with him for hanging up on her. She had taken his phone away as well, declaring that it was too much of a distraction from his schoolwork. Now he was left with nothing to do, and no one to talk to. 

Hajime sighed. With nothing to do, he supposed he might as well just work on his homework. He grabbed his laptop and sat down on his bed, opening up his school email. However, when he saw the sixteen emails he had from his teachers, he was already tempted to just give up. It almost wasn’t even worth the effort to get all the work done if he was just going to go back to school tomorrow, and have even more work to fall behind on again. He let out another sigh and closed his laptop, setting it off to the side. 

With nothing to do yet again, Hajime plopped down on his bed in frustration. He covered his face with a pillow and let out a groan. There was nothing to do to pass the time other than take a nap or do schoolwork, and the latter was too overwhelming to even try doing. With no other option in mind, Hajime rolled over in bed and closed his eyes. However, before he could fall asleep, he heard his door creak open.

“Hajime, I’m leaving for work in a few minutes.” It was his mother. “Don’t forget to work on that schoolwork, okay? I don’t want to hear anymore excuses for not getting it done.”

“Okay.” Hajime didn’t have the energy to argue. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” With that, his mother left, and a few minutes later, Hajime heard the front door open and close. With his father already having left for work, he was home alone. 

Hajime buried his face in his pillow once again. He didn’t want to spend the entire day sleeping, but it seemed like there wasn’t anything else he could do. Usually, on a day like this, he’d head to the park, but he was unable to do that so long as he was grounded. 

“Well.” Hajime shoved his pillow off to the side. “It’s not like they’re home to stop me, I guess.”

He hopped out of bed, grabbing a sweatshirt, his bag, and a pair of sneakers. He didn’t bother with putting his binder on, not having the energy to care today. As quickly as he could, he raced down the stairs and out the door. His parents wouldn’t be home until well past nine at night, and it was only five in the evening, but it was better to be safe than sorry. 

Hajime made his way to the park, hoping that, maybe, if he was lucky, the others might be there as well. 

When he arrived at the park, though, it was completely empty. He let out a disappointed sigh. He didn’t know what he was expecting. Without any way to contact his friends, he had no way to properly plan a place to meet up with them, and it wasn’t like they would just miraculously know he was going to go to the park today. He tugged at his hair in frustration. He was all alone, like usual. 

With a huff of irritation, Hajime sat down in the grass. He drew his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them. He felt incredibly stupid, sitting all alone in an empty park in thirty degree weather while he was supposed to be grounded. He should have just stayed home and waited things out.

“Hajime!” Hajime jumped when he heard his name, pulling him out of his thoughts. He glanced around to find who had called to him, but saw no one. 

“What?”

“Behind you, silly.” When Hajime turned around, he saw Nagito waving at him with a smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I hope you’re not mad, but I totally understand if you are. I mean, I did—”

“No, no, I’m not mad.” Hajime shook his head. “It’s fine, really. I’m actually really glad to see you.”

“Really?” Nagito stared at Hajime with wide eyes. Hajime nodded. “Oh. Wow.”

“‘Wow’?” 

“No one’s ever really told me they were glad to see me.” Nagito laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Hajime frowned.

“Oh.” Hajime patted the ground next to him. “Well, I’m happy to see you. Sit with me?”

Nagito sat on his knees next to Hajime. 

“Are you not grounded anymore?” Nagito asked. Hajime sighed.

“Still grounded, but my parents aren’t home, so I snuck out. I was bored, and I missed you guys.”

“I see.” Nagito frowned. “Sorry it’s just me. Chiaki’s at the arcade for some sort of gaming competition, and Mikan has therapy, so we decided to meet up tomorrow instead. I just came out here because I didn’t want to stay home all day.” 

“Oh.” Hajime fidgeted with his hands. “I’m sorry if I’m not able to join you guys tomorrow. I’m not sure when my mom’s gonna unground me.”

Nagito put his hand on Hajime’s shoulder, smiling sympathetically.

“It’s fine. We understand.” 

With that, the pair sat together in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Hajime pulled out a comic book from his bag, and Nagito simply stared off into space. After a while, Nagito absentmindedly rested his head on Hajime’s shoulder.

“O-Oh! Are you tired?” Hajime asked, somewhat startled. Nagito shrugged.

“A little. I haven’t slept much lately.” Nagito brushed it off and quickly changed the subject. “What are you reading?”

“Oh, uh, just a comic book.” Hajime glanced over at Nagito, who was squinting at the pages. “Do you wanna read it?”

“I don’t have my glasses with me, so I can’t really read the text that well. I can kind of see the pictures, though.”

“Oh. I can just read it to you, then. If you want, I mean,” Hajime offered, smiling sheepishly. Comics were one of Hajime’s few big interests, but he wasn’t the greatest at sharing his interests with others. He constantly feared that he would be bothering others by speaking of his interests, so he had learned to stay silent about them most of the time. 

“Okay.” Nagito smiled at Hajime. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Nagito adjusted his position so he could see the pages better, his chin resting on Hajime’s shoulder. Hajime began reading from the beginning of the story arc, and Nagito listened with curiosity. 

“_I’m sorry I waited so long to tell you these things_,” Hajime read. “_There is so much more that I want to tell you, and I will. But one thing you must always remember, no matter what has happened, and no matter what may come—_”__

_ _Hajime cut himself off when he realized that Nagito had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He stiffened, unsure of what to do now. He didn’t want to wake Nagito up, but he didn’t know if it was okay to just let him stay there. After a moment of thought, he supposed it would be fine. Nagito had said he hadn’t been sleeping much recently, and Hajime decided it would be best to just let him rest. _ _

_ _-_ _

_ _When Nagito finally awoke, it was to Hajime gently shaking his shoulder. He blinked tiredly, letting out a yawn._ _

_ _“Sorry to wake you up.” Hajime smiled apologetically. “I have to get going. My parents are gonna be home soon, and they’ll kill me if they find out I left the house.”_ _

_ _Nagito nodded in acknowledgment, too busy yawning to verbally respond. Hajime laughed a little._ _

_ _“I’ll text you when my mom finally gives me my phone back, okay?” _ _

_ _“Okay.” Nagito smiled. “See you later.”_ _

_ _“See you.” With that, Hajime began heading back home._ _


	4. begonia skies, like a sleepyhead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! its me again......... i cant believe ive written three chapters in three days tbh thats a new record for me!! i hope you guys dont mind the super frequent updates?? i hope they arent annoying,,, also sorry this chapter is a little short!! i promise the next one will be longer!! anyways. this chapter is super chiaki centric !! they finally get the spotlight for a little while
> 
> also! chisa shows up in this chapter! shes chiaki's adoptive mother in this au! ^_^ shes not gonna be a SUPER big character in this au but she will show up here and there!! 
> 
> the last bit of this chapter is pretty dialogue heavy so i hope that doesnt bother you guys!! also. no tws for this chapter!!

“Congrats on another perfect win,” the arcade worker said, shooting Chiaki a smile. “I don’t know how you do it.”

Chiaki shrugged. “It’s not that hard. I just play games a lot.”

“Seems like that’s all you ever do.” The arcade worker laughed. 

“Oh.” Chiaki had heard that comment over and over again from many different people, but still had no idea how to respond to it. They couldn’t tell if it was an insult, or if it was just a neutral observation. 

“Anyways.” The arcade worker handed Chiaki an envelope and a Princess Peach plushie. “There’s your prize for winning.”

“Thanks,” Chiaki replied with a smile.They tucked the plushie under their arm, and opened up the envelope. Inside was fifteen dollars and a gift card to a local diner— the one where they had gotten milkshakes with Ibuki, Mikan, Hajime, and Nagito. They smiled. Maybe when Hajime was ungrounded, they could invite everyone to go get milkshakes again. 

“See you later,” the arcade worker said as Chiaki left the arcade. They waved at her as they left to head home.

-

When Chiaki arrived at home, they were greeted by a note on the kitchen table that said their mother had been called into an emergency meeting at the school she worked at, and that she wouldn’t be home in time for dinner. Chiaki sighed. Their mother was usually too busy to be around very often, and though they didn’t mind, it got somewhat lonely sometimes. 

On the table, next to the note, there was a twenty dollar bill— Chiaki’s mother expected them to order food for themselves. They sighed. Talking to people on the phone wasn’t their strong suit, and they hated having to speak to the delivery person at the door.

Chiaki scavenged through the freezer, hoping to find some sort of frozen meal they could heat up, but came up empty. They sighed again. Their only options now were to go hungry for the night, or face their fear of ordering something on the phone. If they didn’t have school the next day, they would have just waited for their mother to come home, but she most likely wouldn’t be home until late at night. 

Chiaki eyed their phone, weighing the options carefully. While they were thinking, they heard the front door open, making them jump.

“Chiaki, I’m home early,” a familiar voice called out. Chiaki sighed in relief. It was just their mom. “I got Chinese food, I hope you didn’t already order something.”

“No, I didn’t.” 

“Ah, of course not.” Chiaki’s mother entered the kitchen, smiling. She pulled her orange hair out of its usual ponytail as she said, “Someday, you’ll need to learn to talk to other people. I’ll let you stay with me as long as you want, but I won’t live forever, you know.”

“I know.” Chiaki smiled. Their mom said that all the time; It had become something of an inside joke between them over time. “What happened to the meeting?”

“A few of the other teachers weren’t able to make it, so it was postponed.” Chiaki’s mom draped her coat over a chair, and set down the bag of takeout on the kitchen table. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Oh. Okay.” With that, Chiaki and their mother sat down to eat. They talked about how their days went, and Chiaki’s mother congratulated them for winning another gaming competition. 

-

After dinner, Chiaki took a shower and began preparing to go to sleep. They put on a pair of comfortable pajamas, brushed their teeth, and got in bed. They grabbed the DS they kept on their nightstand and opened up Animal Crossing, but before they could begin playing, their phone began buzzing. They frowned, putting their DS down and picking up their phone. There was an incoming video call from the group chat they had created with Hajime, Ibuki, Mikan, and Nagito.

When they answered the call, Mikan and Hajime were already there. Mikan waved shyly at Chiaki, and Hajime greeted her with a smile.

“You got your phone back,” Chiaki observed, smiling. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Hajime rubbed the back of his neck. “She said she didn’t like leaving me alone without some way to contact her, so she let me have it back. She’s still not super happy with me.”

As Hajime spoke, Ibuki and Nagito joined the call as well.

“Heyo! I missed you, Hajime!” Ibuki said with a grin. 

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Well, I missed you anyways!” Ibuki laughed. 

“S-Sorry I called y-you all so randomly so l-late at night,” Mikan said, laughing nervously.

“It’s fine!” Ibuki responded, brushing it off.

“Yeah. And it’s only eight-thirty. That’s not bad,” Chiaki added. “Is there a reason you called?”

“Um… I just w-wanted to see you all, I g-guess.” Mikan frowned, looking away from her phone camera. “Um, I’m s-sorry if that’s weird!”

“It’s not weird at all. It’s what friends do,” Hajime reassured, smiling. “Besides, I missed seeing you guys, even if it was only two days.” 

“Weird how you can only know someone for three days and still miss them when you don’t see them again,” Ibuki thought out loud, wrapping a piece of her hair around her finger as she did. “I guess sometimes people just click like that. It’s kind of nice.”

“Yeah, it is nice,” Nagito agreed. “I’ve… never really had real friends before, actually. I’m glad that of all people, you guys are my first group of friends. I almost kind of don’t feel worthy of that.”

“No way!” Ibuki laughed. “You don’t have to be ‘worthy’ of being someone’s friend. You just… become their friend, you know? There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”

“Yeah,” Chiaki agreed, smiling. “And I’m happy to be friends with someone like you, Nagito.”

Nagito stared blankly for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed sheepishly. 

“Thanks.”

“I-I think y-you’re a great friend, N-Nagito!” Mikan spoke up. “You shouldn’t p-put yourself down so much!”

As Chiaki watched Nagito frantically try to figure out what to do with all the positivity he was receiving, they smiled. They understood how Nagito felt, not having had a real group of friends before either. It was nice, hearing all their friends talk like this and being a part of it. It made something in their chest feel warm and fuzzy, and it brought a soft smile to their face.


	5. when my mind is uncertain, my body decides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh hello! i wanna quickly apologize for how this chapter ends bc i couldnt find a good way to end it?? so it ends a little awkwardly tjrsnjksrkj 
> 
> no tws for this chapter!! altho next chapter will talk abt something kinda heavy so heres a warning in advance for that!! (ill put a warning on the chapter as well so dont worry abt that)
> 
> nagito nd ibuki get 2 hang out next chapter and im VERY excited abt that bc i think they have a fun dynamic in this au.... Chaos Bros
> 
> this chapter isnt 100% proofread so if therez any mistakes i promise ill be handling them later!!

Mikan sighed as she entered the school building— she hated this place more than anything in the world. The kids all hated her, and the lessons always went right over her head. Every school day felt more and more miserable, chipping away at her will to continue going every day. Reluctantly, she headed to her first period class, keeping her head down as she passed by other students in the halls. 

When she entered the classroom, only a few other students were already there. She took a seat in the back of the room, burying her face in a book to avoid attracting any attention to herself. Only a few minutes passed before someone walked by her desk, muttering a quiet, “Freak.”

Mikan winced. She was used to it by now, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. She set her book down when she heard the teacher enter the room, announcing that class was about to start. She sighed. She didn’t like math class at all. The numbers made no sense to her and got scattered around in her head, and the symbols and formulas felt far too overwhelming. 

As the lesson went on, Mikan gave up on paying attention. The questions were making less and less sense, and the teacher didn’t seem like she’d be slowing down any time soon. Just when Mikan was about to get lost in her own thoughts, she heard her phone buzz in her pocket. She glanced up at the teacher to make sure she wasn’t looking at her, then quickly fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the screen beneath her desk.

**Ibuki!!!:** _im skipping classes 2day if any of u want 2 join me!!! im lonely :(_

**Hajime!!!:** _Didn’t you skip school on Friday, too?_

**Ibuki!!!:** _yea but thatz not a big deal_

Mikan glanced up at the teacher, then back down at her phone. She’d never even thought of skipping school, let alone actually done it. The very concept seemed terrifying, especially the consequences of getting caught.

**Hajime!!!:** _Sorry, but I can’t hang out with you. My parents are already angry with me._

**Hajime!!!:** _They’d kill me if they caught me skipping._

**Nagito!!!:** _where do you wanna meet_

**Hajime!!!:** _Do ANY of you care about your grades??_

Mikan stared at the messages longingly. She’d much rather be with Ibuki than in a classroom filled with people who hated her. She glanced up at the teacher, then back down at her phone screen. 

**Ibuki!!!:** _lol school iz dumb!! i wanna start a band not go 2 sum dumb fancy college_

Mikan took a deep breath, then raised her hand. 

“Yes, Tsumiki?” the teacher said. Mikan swallowed back her anxiety.

“M-May I go to th-the b-bathroom please?” she squeaked out. The teacher nodded and continued on with the lesson. Mikan grabbed her bag and left the room as quickly as possible, ignoring the comments made by the other students as she walked by. By the time she made it out to the hallway, she was trembling with anxiety, and felt sick to her stomach. She took a deep breath. “I-It’s not a huge d-deal… I-It’s just l-like leaving f-for an appointment…”

Mikan glanced around the hallway, making sure no one was there. When she confirmed that the halls were clear, she headed to the gym. There was a door there that led behind the school, and there were never any first period gym classes, leaving a perfect opportunity to sneak out. 

Mikan snuck into the gym as quietly as possible, making sure the room was empty before sprinting to the door and stepping outside. In her franticness, she slammed the door behind her, and let out a deep breath. 

_Um, where are you meeting?_ she sent to the chat, her hands shaking. 

**Ibuki!!!:** _woah!! ur the last person i wouldve expected 2 skip class lol_

**Ibuki!!!:** _we’re heading 2 the park!! i stopped at the gas station so im bringing snackz and hot chocolate :)_

**Chiaki!!!:** _sorry i can’t come with you guys. i have therapy today._

**Ibuki!!!:** _itz ok!! hav fun at therapy!!_

Mikan took one last deep breath, put her phone in her pocket, and began making her way to the park. Once she began making her way down the sidewalk, leaving school suddenly felt much less overwhelming than it had a moment ago. It felt the same as leaving early for an appointment, just without permission this time. In the back of her head, there was a nagging sense of dread from the fear of getting caught, but she pushed it down. She wanted to see her friends more than she feared getting caught skipping classes, she decided. 

-

When Mikan arrived at the park, Nagito and Ibuki were already there, sitting on the swings and talking idly. When they noticed Mikan, they smiled and waved.

“Hi,” Mikan greeted, setting her bag down next to the swings and sitting on the swing next to Nagito. “H-How are you two?”

“I’m good!” Ibuki responded, grinning. She was swinging as high as she could, kicking her legs energetically. Meanwhile, Nagito swung slowly, only ever so slightly kicking his legs.

“I’m doing okay,” Nagito said, shooting Mikan a small smile. “It’s been kind of an off day, but I’m good.”

“I’m glad y-you’re both doing well.” Mikan smiled, fidgeting with her hands. “Um. I’m doing p-pretty well too. Ah! Sorry. Y-You didn’t ask.”

“That’s fine.” Nagito waved it off. “I’m happy to hear that you’re doing well, too.”

“Me too!” Ibuki chimed in. She was swinging too quickly for Mikan to get a good look at her face, but she sounded like she was smiling. 

Mikan jumped a bit when she felt Nagito grab her hand. She looked over at him to see him smiling brightly at her.

“You know, you can tell us anything you want, even if we don’t ask first. I like hearing you talk, and I’m sure the others do, too.”

“O-Oh!” Mikan didn’t know how to respond to that. She smiled sheepishly, squeezing Nagito’s hand. “U-Um… Thank you!”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Nagito laughed. “I’m just telling the truth.”

“Yeah!” Ibuki agreed. She had slowed down her swinging, now staying near Nagito and Mikan’s level. “We’re all happy to have you around, Mikan.”

Mikan’s face flushed red at Nagito and Ibuki’s words. She used her free hand to hide it.

“Th-Thank you! I-I’m happy to have you guys around t-too!”

The three spent the rest of the afternoon at the park together, messing around on the swings and slides and drinking the hot chocolate Ibuki had brought. Mikan almost felt like a kid again, laughing and smiling with Nagito and Ibuki and fooling around without a care in the world. 

-

Around the time that school was about to be let out, Mikan left for an appointment with her psychiatrist. She said her goodbyes, gave Nagito and Ibuki hugs, and left with a smile and a wave of her hand. 

Nagito and Ibuki spent a while more at the park, sitting on top of the slides and talking about anything and everything; School, music, the future, and anything else they could think of. When the sun began to set, they agreed to grab dinner somewhere and head to Ibuki’s house to hang out for a while more.


	6. you are flesh and blood (and you deserve to be loved)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i keep forgetting to say this but thank u so much for all the nice comments u guyz have left!! i never rlly know how to reply to them, but i promise i read them and appreciate them so much!!
> 
> ! tws for this chapter !: theres talk of anorexia/disordered eating!! pls tread lightly if thats a touchy subject for u!! as someone who deals w an ed myself i rlly wouldnt want 2 trigger anyone w this so please be careful!!
> 
> also! sorry if this chapter posts multiple times?? ao3 iz being weird for me rn :(

“What do you wanna grab for dinner?” 

“Oh, I’m fine with anything,” Nagito responded with a smile. “I’m not very picky.”

“Okay! Wanna just grab a pizza or something?” Ibuki suggested. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Cool! I’ll call in the order now, and we can stop and grab it on the walk to my hose. What do you want on it?”

“Uh, just cheese is fine with me.” 

“Okay! I’ll get it with half cheese for you, and half with my toppings. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Nagito agreed, smiling at Ibuki. It was hard for him not to smile when Ibuki was around; She was always radiating positive energy, and would get excited over just about anything— even something as small as ordering dinner for herself and Nagito. 

While Ibuki called in the order, the two grabbed their bags and began the walk to Ibuki’s house, talking idly after Ibuki got off the phone. They stopped briefly at the pizza place to grab their food and pay, then walked the rest of the way to Ibuki’s house. 

When they entered the house, Ibuki tossed her bag on the floor and kicked her shoes off haphazardly. Nagito placed his bag next to hers, and kicked off his shoes somewhat more neatly beside hers.

“You want anything to drink? I’ve got, uh...” Ibuki looked inside the fridge, scanning the contents. “Water, soda, and juice. Wait, no. The juice is expired. Okay, I’ve got water and soda.” 

“I’ll just have water.” 

“Okie dokie!” Ibuki grabbed a bottle of water and a can of orange soda from the fridge and placed them on the table. She and Nagito sat at the table, and Ibuki was quick to dig into the food. Nagito grabbed a slice, but was reluctant to do much but stare at it. By the time Ibuki had wolfed down two slices, Nagito had only nibbled at his own slice. Ibuki frowned.

“You’re not gonna eat?” 

“Oh, I’m just not all that hungry,” Nagito replied, smiling reassuringly at Ibuki. Ibuki frowned, looking unconvinced.

“You sure? You didn’t eat anything while we were at the park.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

“Hm.” Ibuki narrowed her eyes at Nagito. “Ibuki suspects a lie.” 

Nagito shrugged nervously, avoiding eye contact with Ibuki. 

“It’s really nothing, I just don’t really have much of an appetite today.”

“Well, I think you should eat anyways. You haven’t eaten all day, and your body needs fuel!” 

“I guess you’re right, but…” Nagito trailed off, unable to find a believable excuse. He felt his hands beginning to shake ever so slightly as he desperately searched for some sort of lie. 

“You’re not, like, doing that on purpose, right?” Ibuki asked suddenly. Nagito snapped out of his thoughts.

“Doing what on purpose?”

“Not eating.” After a moment, Ibuki suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry! That’s not something you’re supposed to randomly ask people!”

Nagito couldn’t come up with a reasonable response to that in time, staring at Ibuki in silence as his hands began shaking more. 

“Hey, you don’t have to answer that, I’m sorry.” Ibuki looked down at the floor, a guilty expression crossing her face. “I shouldn’t have asked, I just— I always want to help and make people happy, but sometimes I’m too forward, and it comes off as invasive and rude, and I didn’t mean to—”

Nagito smiled softly as he cut her off with, “It’s fine. I understand.”

“Oh.” Ibuki looked relieved, but the guilt in her eyes didn’t leave. “I’m still sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nagito waved it off.

“Um… Do you mind if I just ask… Why?” Ibuki rubbed the back of her neck. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to! I just, um… I don’t know. I want to help, I guess. I’m sorry, I think I’m too impulsive about wanting to help. I might just be making this worse…”

“Sometimes I just… feel like I don’t really deserve it, I guess.” Ibuki paused in her rambled apologies. “Ah, that probably made no sense, I’m sorry.”

Nagito laughed nervously, fidgeting with his hands beneath the table. 

“It’s just… My life is kind of weird most of the time. Things spiral out of control a lot, so… I guess, in a way, it’s nice to have something that I can control, even if it’s just eating and my weight. And… I cause a lot of problems with the people closest to me, so… I mean, I just feel like I don’t really deserve comfort if I’m always putting everyone else in discomfort, you know?”

“Nagito…” Ibuki’s eyes filled with sympathy. “I don’t know much about what your life has been like, but… You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve to make yourself suffer all the time.”

Ibuki paused for a moment, reaching over the table to grab Nagito’s hand.

“I’m not the best at putting things like this into words, but you’re a good friend, and I think the others definitely agree with that. You make us happy! And we like having you around.” Ibuki squeezed Nagito’s hand. “No one deserves to make themselves suffer like this, and especially not you.”

Nagito had no idea how to respond to that. Ibuki’s words had brought tears to his eyes, and he feared that if he opened his mouth to speak anyways, he’d begin crying. He couldn’t remember a time when anyone had said things like that to him and truly meant them.

“Thanks,” Nagito finally managed to say after a moment of silence. He wished he could say more, but his mind felt too scattered to form the words.

“Don’t thank me! I’m just being honest.” Ibuki squeezed Nagito’s hand, shooting him a bright smile. “You know, there’s probably, like, leftover salad or something somewhere in the fridge if you wanna eat but are too scared to eat the pizza. 

“No, it’s fine.” Nagito took a bite of his slice of pizza. “I probably need something more filling than salad after not eating all day.”

“Good! I’m proud of you.” Ibuki grinned. “I know this isn’t something that can go away through just pep talks and pizza, so… If you ever need to talk, let me know.”

Nagito, once again, was at a loss for words. He simply smiled and nodded, hoping his message got across. Ibuki squeezed his hand.

“Wanna stay here tonight? We could watch movies or something,” she suggested. Nagito nodded.

“Yeah. That sounds nice.”

The two made it through four obscure horror movies before they both fell asleep on the couch together.


	7. deathly loneliness attacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEE... hello i am back with more content. gjushgsuk i really hope you guys dont mind how frequently i update this!! dr is my big special interest so im just Always making dr content and this au is a big comfort for me 
> 
> no tws for this chapter!! the title of this chapter makes it sound much sadder than it actually is bc i couldnt think of a title nd was listening to mafumafu
> 
> also!! chisa shows up again!! best mom... also! tsumugi briefly appears! shes not going to be a major character (in fact. she probably wont show up again after this chapter gnrksgskj) but shes my all time fave dr character so it was only a matter of time before she made a cameo here (and her role here seemed fitting rhshgkur)
> 
> ok enough of me rambling!! this chapter is only kind of proofread and im rlly tired so i apologize for any errors!! i promise ill come back and fix them Eventually... this chapter is fillery BUT next chapter they have a sleepover and itll be fun

When Hajime heard his phone buzz in the middle of class, he glanced up at his teacher to make sure she wasn’t paying attention before grabbing it from his bag and opening his messages.

**Chiaki:** _do you guys want to get milkshakes after school today? i earned some money and a gift card in a gaming competition so i thought maybe we could do that_

**Nagito:** _sorry, i’ve got a doctors appointment at 3 today_

**Mikan:** _I’d love to, but I have to stay after school today to get extra help in math… I’m sorry!!_

Hajime sighed. He would have loved to hang out with the others, but he had only just gotten ungrounded, and if he went out before finishing what remained of his unfinished schoolwork, the chances of him getting grounded yet again were high. 

_Sorry, I’ve still got schoolwork to do before my mom actually lets me do much._

**Chiaki:** _oh, okay_

**Chiaki:** _maybe tomorrow, then?_

**Ibuki:** _sorry chiaki :( im performing at a little underground muzic concert tomorrow night_

**Ibuki:** _maybe thurzday?_

**Chiaki:** _my mom and i are having a family night on thursday, so i can’t do that… _

**Chiaki:** _maybe we could have a sleepover at my house on friday night if everyone is available?_

**Ibuki:** _hell yea!! im down_

**Nagito:** _sounds good to me_

**Mikan:** _I’d love to come!!_

Hajime quickly typed out a response, saying he’d be able to come. While Chiaki and the others decided on a time, Hajime quickly slipped his phone back into his bag. Getting caught on his phone during class was the last thing he needed right after getting ungrounded.

When school was finally over for the day, Hajime was the first to get up and leave class as quickly as he could. Knowing that the group had planned on all meeting up again, he had a new motivation to finally get through all his schoolwork. Focusing on it and getting through it all still wouldn’t be easy, but knowing that getting it over with meant seeing his friends again without dealing with his mother made it feel much more worth it.

-

Nagito glanced down at his phone as he left the school building, checking the time. It was 2:15, and if he was lucky, he could most likely manage to stop at the comic store before his appointment. He walked somewhat faster than usual to avoid ending up late.

The comic store wasn’t somewhere Nagito generally found himself, and when he walked into the building, he felt slightly overwhelmed. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting, but the amount of comics on the walls felt mildly intimidating. He glanced around, trying to figure out where he was most likely to find what he was looking for. 

“Hi!” Nagito jumped when he heard a voice behind him. He turned around to see a girl with long blue hair and glasses. “Need help finding anything?”

“Uh, yeah.” Nagito thought for a moment, trying to recall the name of the comic he was looking for. “I think it’s… ‘X-23’?”

“Oh! The series with Laura Kinney!” The blue haired girl smiled. “Are you looking for the trade, or just the singular issues? Oh! And are you looking for the original series, or the newer one?”

Nagito blinked. He had absolutely no idea what any of that meant. 

“Not sure?” The girl smiled. “That’s okay. I’ll help you look!” 

“Thanks.” Nagito laughed nervously as the girl led him over to a section of comics.

“Let’s see…” She flicked through a few, humming as she searched. “Ah! We’ve got the two complete collections of the original run, and two trades of the newer run. We’ve also got the complete All-New Wolverine series, the complete collection of NYX, and— Oh! If you’re looking for any other series with Laura in them, we’ve got Avengers Arena and a few issues of New X-Men over here.”

Nagito stared blankly at the girl once again. She was talking far too quickly and saying too many things he couldn’t understand.

“Um…” Nagito glanced down at the pile of books the girl had created. “I guess I’ll just get… all of them?”

“All of them?” The girl looked surprised. “Alright. We have a few pre-owned copies of these in the back if you want to spend less money on them.”

“Uh, that works, thanks.” Nagito smiled. The girl returned the smile before walking off to find the other copies of the books. When she returned, she ushered Nagito over to the counter.

“What makes you so interested in X-23, if I may ask?” the girl asked as she scanned the comics. “Sorry if that’s a weird question, I just think people’s favorite superheroes say a lot about them.”

The girl smiled, and Nagito didn’t really know how to respond.

“Uh, well,” Nagito rubbed the back of his neck, “my friend is really into comics, and last time we hung out we read a bit of X-23 together, so I guess I just want to be able to understand it better, since it means a lot to him.” 

“Aw, that’s sweet.” The girl smiled. “He’s lucky to have a friend like you. Your total is seventy dollars, by the way.”

Nagito tried not to let his surprise show when she told him his total. He had no idea comics were so expensive, especially considering that most of them were pre-owned. He handed the girl the money anyways, deciding that it would probably be worth it in the end. It would make Hajime happy, and that was all Nagito really wanted out of this. 

Nagito wasn’t exactly sure why he was so invested in making Hajime happy, but he supposed that that was just what friends did. Plus, he did have some interest in the comics anyways. Reading it with Hajime was fun, and the story had drawn him in.

“Here’s your receipt.” Nagito snapped out of his thoughts. “Have a nice day! Feel free to come back if you want to check out anything else. I’m full of recommendations.”

“Thank you.” Nagito smiled at the girl before grabbing the bag of comics and leaving. The bag was heavier than he had expected, and carrying that along with his school bag to the doctor wasn't going to fun, but he decided he’d probably be able to deal with it. 

When he checked the time, it was 2:55. He’d spent way longer in the comic store than he had expected he would. With a sigh, he began walking as quickly as he could to his appointment. 

-

Mikan sighed as she finally left the school building. She had ended up staying after until almost 4:30, and only managed to make her way through less than half of her math work. She felt incredibly dumb now, taking so long only to barely understand the math anyways.

Her teacher had repeatedly told her that it was fine, and that she wasn’t the only one who heavily struggled with math, but she still felt like she just wasn’t smart enough. She sniffled.

“I’m not going to cry,” Mikan muttered to herself. “I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry.”

Mikan tried to reassure herself, but her eyes were still beginning to well up with tears. She hastily wiped them away and took a deep breath. She thought about her friends, and decided that they wouldn’t want to see her cry, especially not over something as trivial as math. She took another deep breath, and after a moment, the tears stopped coming.

-

“Did you finish your homework?”

Chiaki glanced up from their DS to face their mom. 

“Yeah. Well, most of it. I’ll get the rest done before I go to bed.”

“Alright.” Their mom shot them a smile. “Hey, I thought you said you were going somewhere after school?”

“Oh, I was going to, but,” Chiaki glanced down at the floor, “my friends are all busy.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Their mom’s smile turned sympathetic. “Hey, how about we do something tonight once I’m finished grading these tests? I can be your player two for a while.”

“Okay.” Chiaki perked up a bit at that. “What should we play? We can play a game where we work together, like Mario Bros., or maybe we could play against each other in Xenoverse for a while, or…”

Chiaki’s mom listened as well as she could to Chiaki’s ramblings as she graded her class’s tests. She understood almost none of Chiaki’s video game talks, but she always tried her best to listen to them nonetheless. It made her happy to see the way Chiaki lit up as they went on and on about the latest video game releases, and what games they were currently replaying, and the new achievements they had gotten. 

-

Ibuki let out a frustrated sigh as she heard her guitar strings buzz unpleasantly once again. She set her guitar down reluctantly. 

The music festival she was performing at was in two days, and she still couldn’t get this one song down by heart. Every time she tried, her timing was off, and she was left with the painful sound of fret buzz. 

Ibuki took a deep breath. 

“One more try, and if I don’t get it down this time, I’ll just… pick another song? I guess?” Ibuki sighed when she realized that it was far too late to do that. “Okay. One more try, and if I don’t get it down this time, I’ll just do it again.”

Ibuki picked up her guitar once again and gave the song one more try, letting out a frustrated groan when her fingers formed the wrong chord at the wrong time. She glanced at the clock, debating whether or not she should just give up for the night and head to bed.

“One more time, and then I’ll head to bed,” she promised herself.

But the promise quickly went down the drain when Ibuki kept herself awake until two in the morning, practicing until her fingers had gone numb.


	8. you're the only friend i need (sharing beds like little kids)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR SO LONG OMG... my life got SUPER busy once again :( but im back!!! sorry for the long wait!!!
> 
> this chapter is rlly fun!! kinda dialogue heavy but!! the kids finally get their sleepover :] they get to be silly and have fun now like they deserve
> 
> hopefully the next chapter wont take so long!! im so sorry about that!!

By the time Friday finally came, almost everyone was thoroughly exhausted. Ibuki had pulled two all-nighters getting ready for her concert, Hajime had spent each evening getting through the remainder of his schoolwork, and Chiaki had spent an entire evening compulsively cleaning their entire house in preparation. 

are we still on for tonight..? Chiaki texted the groupchat out of anxiety. With how excited everyone seemed to all meet up for a sleepover, they doubted that anyone would purposefully have cancelled, but some part of them was still paranoid. 

mikan: Yes!! 

nagito: yeah!

ibuki: of course we r!!! ^_^

hajime: Yeah

Chiaki smiled at their quick responses. It seemed they had nothing to worry about, after all. 

-

When classes were finally over for the day, Chiaki was the first to sprint out of the classroom and grab their things from their locker. They quickly made their way to the park, where the group had agreed to meet. 

When they finally arrived, the others were already there, sitting on the swings and talking idly. Ibuki was the first to notice Chiaki, waving at them excitedly.

“Chiaki! Hey!” she yelled, grinning. The others turned to greet Chiaki as well, and Chiaki smiled.

“Hi. It’s nice to see you guys.” Chiaki stood next to the swings, leaning against one of the metal supports. “Are we all ready to go get milkshakes?”

“Hell yeah!” Ibuki exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. The others nodded in agreement, and the group made their way to the diner they had first gathered at. When they arrived, they sat at the same table they had last time, and each ordered a large milkshake, as well as an order of fries to share.

“You know,” Hajime said, pausing to sip his vanilla shake, “I haven’t had a sleepover since I was, like, ten. And I was only invited to that one because the kid’s parents forced him to invite the whole class.”

“Really? I used to have tons of sleepovers in middle school.” Ibuki laughed. “We used to paint our nails and binge watch the Barbie movies. We had all grown out of Barbie dolls, but we thought it was fun to make fun of the movies.”

“Hey, don’t diss Barbie movies,” Chiaki said, playfully glaring at Ibuki. “Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus was amazing.”

“I liked the one with the swans,” Mikan chimed in, earning a smile from Chiaki.

“See? Mikan gets it.”

“Are we really just going to spend the whole night reviewing Barbie movies?” Hajime arched an eyebrow at the group.

“I’d be down with that,” Nagito said. Hajime elbowed him in the side in response.

“I was actually thinking we could play some video games and watch some movies. Non-Barbie movies, I mean,” Chiaki said, adding the last part in as an afterthought. “And maybe play some board games, if you guys want.”

“Oh! Can we play Clue? I’m a boss at Clue!” Ibuki exclaimed, grinning. Chiaki nodded.

“Yeah, we’ve got Clue at my house.”

“Sick! You’re all gonna get so wrecked.” 

“I’d like to see you try to beat me at Clue,” Hajime said, narrowing his eyes at Chiaki. “I’m like a detective prodigy when it comes to that game.”

“Ooh. You’re like the real life Goro Akechi,” Chiaki teased. 

“Oh! You like Persona!” Hajime smiled. Chiaki nodded.

“Yeah. It’s a good series. I’ve got all the games. It’s only singleplayer… We could take turns on it, though, if you guys want.”

“I’ve n-never heard of it, but, um, I’d really l-love to try it with you guys!” Mikan said with a shy smile. 

“Maybe we should wait until we actually get to my house to do all of the sleepover planning, okay?” Chiaki suggested, laughing softly. 

-

When the group was done at the diner, they headed to Chiaki’s house. When they made it there, Chiaki’s mother was sitting on the porch, flipping through a textbook and humming to herself. When she noticed Chiaki and their friends, she grinned.

“Hi! It’s so nice to finally meet you all!” Chiaki’s mom stood up to greet them all. “My name is Chisa Yukizome, but you can just call me Chisa.”

“H-Hello, Miss Chisa,” Mikan stammered out, smiling shyly. Chisa waved her hand dismissively.

“No need for formalities. Like I said, just call me Chisa.”

“O-Oh! Okay!”

“Come in, come in! I’d feel bad just making you stand out here,” Chisa exclaimed, grinning. She led Chiaki and their friends inside, closing the door behind them once they were all inside. 

“Alright, you guys ready to get your asses kicked at Clue?” Ibuki said, smiling excitedly.

“Yeah,” Nagito responded. “I’ve never played it before, so I’ll admit my defeat preemptively.”

“Th-That’s fair. Me too,” Mikan agreed.

“Aw, come on, that’s no way to play.” Chiaki smiled softly. “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.”

-

“Um… What happens now?” Nagito asked, holding the last clock card. Ibuki sighed.

“Game over for all of us. We’ve gotta restart the game.”

“What were the cards?” Hajime asked, gesturing to the tiny packet of cards in the middle of the board. Chiaki grabbed it and pulled the cards out.

“Hmm…” They eyed the cards. “Scarlet in the observatory with the rope.”

“Dammit,” Hajime said, sounding defeated. “I was totally about to win.”

“H-Huh?” Mikan glanced down at the paper she’d been using to keep track of rumor cards throughout the game. “I-I thought it was P-Plum in the h-hall…”

“Man, this game’s lame!” Ibuki declared. “Let’s play something cool!”

“I thought you said you were good at this game?” Nagito questioned, arching an eyebrow. Ibuki rolled her eyes.

“I am!” she exclaimed defensively. “You’re the one who got game over for us.”

“Alright, alright,” Chiaki interrupted as they started cleaning up the game. “How about we play a video game instead?”

“Oh!” Ibuki perked up at that. “Hell yeah! What kinda games you got?”

“Hm… Let’s go look through them.” Chiaki stood up, leaving the board game on the table for now in case they ended up wanting to play it again. They led the others to their bedroom, where they had a large bookshelf filled with games, all in alphabetical order, sectioned off by what console they were for. 

“Woah. That’s a lot of games,” Hajime said as he stared at the shelf with wide eyes. Chiaki laughed sheepishly.

“Yeah… I’ve been collecting them since I was a kid.” 

“Th-That’s really amazing!” Mikan smiled. “I-I mean… to have s-something that y-you’re so passionate about.”

“Oh! Persona 4!” Hajime exclaimed with a grin as he gestured towards the game. “That one’s my favorite.”

“Really?” Chiaki smiled. “I think my favorite is the third game. I like Aigis.”

“U-Um… D-Do you think w-we could play it?” Mikan asked, fidgeting with her hands shyly. “I-I want to know m-more about it if you guys like it so much…”

“Yeah, we definitely can. We’ll have to take turns, though, because it’s not multiplayer, like I said earlier.”

“Oh! Oh! Can I go first?” Ibuki asked eagerly, jumping up and down in excitement. After a moment, she paused. “Well, if no one else wants to, I mean.”

“That’s fine with me,” Chiaki replied, smiling. The others nodded in agreement, and Ibuki pumped her fist in the air happily.

“Hell yeah!”

“Which one are we playing?” Nagito asked as he looked at all the games on the shelf. “It looks like there’s six of them. Should we go in order, or…?”

“Oh, they’re not really chronological, other than Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. We can play them in any order,” Chiaki explained. “I started out with the fourth game, personally.”

“Well… Let’s start with the fourth one, then,” Ibuki suggested with a smile. Chiaki nodded and grabbed the game.

“Is everyone else okay with that?”

“Y-Yes!”

“Sure.”

“Yeah, let’s go for it.”


End file.
